NRA Executive Vice President Wayne La Pierre suggested On NBC’s Meet The Press last month that the right response to the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting was to arm school security officers. Last week a group of Sarasota, FL area public school teachers took that idea and ran with it to a teachers-only firearms training class. Which made us wonder if this trend continues, is there some common ground between gun advocates and educators? Nyack Cartoonist Dan White took it from there, illustrating what a merger between the NRA and the NEA teacher’s union might look like.

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Governor Names Local Officials To Mass Transit Committee

by Vincent Pellecchia

Over a year after New York State announced a new Tappan Zee Bridge project, yesterday the New York State Thruway Authority released basic sketches and cost estimates for the three Tappan Zee Bridge replacement proposals being considered. The three bid proposals were priced at $3.14 billion, $3.99 billion and $4.06 billion, significantly lower than the state’s projections of $5.2 billion. The proposal estimates excluded $600-$800 million in additional costs. The lowest bid, submitted by Tappan Zee Constructors, won the state advisory committee’s recommendation.

Billions are being sought for Hurricane Sandy reconstruction by the governors of New York and New Jersey and New York City’s mayor. The full dollars may not come given the federal budget deficit, the ‘€œfiscal cliff’€ stalemate and traditional congressional reluctance to assist the Northeast, but whatever funds do arrive, the worry is that the greedy already see cash in their big eyes.

Planning to replace the longest bridge in New York State (Tappan Zee, 16,000 ft.) is not an easy task. Especially if you’re the governor and don’t know exactly where the $5.2 billion required to build a replacement will come from. So when Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that mega-millionaire art star Jeffrey Koons would be one of six people selected to sit on the committee to review bids from the three bridge design firms vying for the job, New Yorkers had mixed reactions:

Last week, New York State received approval from the Federal Highway Administration to build a new Tappan Zee Bridge when Washington said the TZB’s Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) was good to go. Although officials sought support from the Feds, they never bothered to ask the fish. Here’s what one of their representatives had to say in this “POV under the Zee.”

Clarkstown Councilwoman Stephanie Hausner has a delegate’s view of the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC.

There’s no enthusiasm gap here!

Monday was Day 1 of the Democratic National Convention and what an exciting day it was! We started the morning with our NY delegation breakfast and heard from Senator Chuck Schumer, Speaker Shelly Silver and Lt. gov Duffy. Normally I’m not into 8a breakfasts, but let me tell you this was worth it. Each morning all 600 or so members of the delegation gather to hear from our state leaders. Every day has a theme related to our core democratic values: Monday was labor, Tuesday was healthcare, and this morning was LGBT equality. We also have received wake up calls each morning; Monday was from President Obama and this morning was from NY Giants Defensive End Justin Tuck.

It’s a big week for the big bridge between Nyack and Tarrytown. The Governor’s Office is in town on a good will tour talking to residents about plans for the building a new bridge. Meanwhile, expect lane closures and lots’o traffic during deck replacement work each evening and overnight Mon-Fri, July 23-27.

The Tappan Zee Bridge Greenway, an ambitious initiative by Greenburgh Town Supervisior Paul Feiner and White Plains Councilwoman Milagros Lecuona to turn the existing TZB into a path for pedestrians and bikers, died a quiet death last week when the NYS Department of Transportation released its instructions to the four firms who will submit proposals to build a new Hudson River crossing. Despite Governor Cuomo’s nuanced endorsement on Feb 27 calling the initiative “an exciting option,” the word “demolition” appears 20 times in the RFP with no text devoted to any plans to salvage the 56 year old decaying bridge.